These Things Matter
by PiperElizabethMcLean
Summary: These things matter to most girls. But to Piper, it just feels normal. Like she was born to say those words. Of course, that may just be because she's a daughter of Aphrodite... cute little ONESHOT! Jason/Piper This is before the crew meets Hercules in the Mark of Athena. SPOLIERS! Don't read unless you've read the whole MoA book!


**This is before the crew meets Hercules in the Mark of Athena. SPOLIERS! Don't read unless you've read the whole MoA book! I don't own the Heroes of Olympus characters. I only own the idea for this.**

These Things Matter

Piper looked out the window of her cabin in the _Argo II_. All she could see were waves. They were on the Mediterranean- or, to Jason, the Mare Nostrum- and every once in a while the flick of a monster's tail could be seen in between waves. Or maybe it was Piper's imagination?

She sat cross-legged on her bunker bed, which happened to be as comfortable as it looked. Turns out, the swan feathers really were as soft as Annabeth praised. The only problem was Piper wasn't getting much sleep. She had an earsplitting headache, which was her excuse for skipping out on the mess hall for dinner. Jason had promised her he would visit later on to check on her.

Just thinking of Jason made Piper's stomach do weird things. Normally she'd think it was butterflies, but she didn't have anything to be nervous about. Or did she? Okay, so maybe she did. They were approaching Rome steadily, and then there was the whole deal about drowning…

Piper felt queasy again.

As she slid off her bed to swallow an Advil, her door opened. Jason slipped inside carrying what looked like a Tupperware plastic bowl of microwaved soup. "What are you doing?" His brow creased.

"Oh," Piper waved her hand, "I was going to take some Advil, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

Jason smirked, "Now, come on. I know I'm pretty attractive, but I doubt my looks have that good of healing powers."

Piper let a small laugh escape. "What's this?"

"You skipped out on dinner. I brought chicken noodle soup."

"Campbell's," Piper laughed again. She hesitated, "That's sweet…"

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, "You don't like it? I can go get something else-"

"No, this is fine," Piper closed her hand over her boyfriend's. "It's just, you didn't bring a spoon."

"Oh," Jason stood up from the bed. He reached in his pocket before exposing a plastic spoon. "Here you go."

"Oh, great," She said, "Lint-flavored."

"So you've been down here the whole time?" Jason lounged on Piper's bed as she tasted the soup. "What have you done?"

"I've been looking at the dagger some more," She started to actually eat the soup slowly now,

"Oh?" Jason leaned forward, "Anything new?"

"No," Piper mumbled. She really thought she should say something about the vision Katoptris the dagger showed her. She just didn't know how to say it. She couldn't straight up be like "Hey! Jason! Guess what? The son of Poseidon, you, and I am going to drown in a well soon!"

No. She couldn't bring it up, either. She couldn't see a way how.

"What's wrong?" Jason scooted closer as Piper placed her bowl on the bed's side table. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing," She mumbled, resting her forehead on his shoulder. "Can you just hold me for a second? I don't feel too well."

Jason pretended to back away. "Don't throw up on me…"

Piper glared. "Never mind, then."

"I was kidding," Jason wrapped his arms around her tighter. "I wouldn't leave you if you were sick."

Piper cuddled her face into the crook of his neck. "Really, you mean it?"

"How could I joke about something like that? These things matter, you can't joke about them," Jason said, despite the chuckle in his tone. "Piper, I love you."

Piper froze. He just said it. Those three words… he said them. She exhaled slowly, not meaning for it to come out shakily.

"What, Jason?" Her eyes were wide.

"I mean it," He told her.

Piper closed her eyes. This wasn't a joke. This was real. And he definitely just said the three words people only say when they actually mean it.

Jason was right, though. These things _did_ matter. If this was back at camp, one of Piper's half-sisters would be _freaking out_. But this was just him and her… like it should be. And it was odd... Piper didn't feel like this was somehting new. It felt... almost _natural_ to hear these words from Jason. Liek they had been saying it all their lives.

Piper smiled and kissed him soft and slow. "I love you, too."

And she was right. Nothing felt diffrent. It felt Natural, and although these things mattered to any other couple, this felt almost exactly like they already knew this little fact. Because in all honesty, Piper knew he loved her before he even said it.

**ONESHOT, PiperElizabethMcLean**

**I hope you guys enjoyed the Mark of Athena! I know I did!**


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